Development WELCOME HOME

In Culver City, a small commercial building has given way for a new mixed-use development. The project, located at 12712-12718 Washington Boulevard, will consist of a five-story building featuring five residential units above approximately 3,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space and an underground parking garage. City records list the project’s applicant as Sikand Engineering, and its architect as Pete Volbeda. The property is a short distance east of a vacant lot which is slated for a larger 37-unit development.

Plans have been filed with the City of Los Angeles for a new mixed-use development in Historic South Central. Although exact details are currently unclear, the project would consist of a multi-story building features residential units above ground-floor retail space, is slated for an approximately two-acre site at 2528 S. Grand Avenue. A case filing from the Department of City Planning indicates that the development would include more than 50 dwelling units, a portion of which would be set aside as affordable housing.

Architecture firm Johnson Fain has announced the opening of Blossom Plaza, a mixed-use development adjacent to the Metro Gold Line’s Chinatown Station. Located at 900 N. Broadway, the project consists of two five-story structures featuring 237 apartments, of which 20% are reserved as affordable housing. A paseo lined by approximately 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space cuts between the buildings, connecting to a large plaza adjacent to the elevated light rail station.

Plans to redevelop the surface parking lots surrounding the Parsons Corporation’s Pasadena headquarters have taken another step forward. Earlier this month, the city’s design commission approved the 100 West Walnut development, which would create a series of five-and-six-story buildings along Fair Oaks Avenue and Walnut Street. The project, which is being developed by Lincoln Property Company and AMLI Residential, will feature approximately 210,000 square feet of office space, 17,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and as many as 475 residential units.

Los Angeles has found itself in an identity crisis, with many of its low-slung neighborhoods now in direct conflict with the harsh realities of a housing shortage. Some have sought to combat the region’s rental crunch by increasing housing supply through high-density developments. Mayor Eric Garcetti, as well as several other state and local officials, have looked to ease the construction process through a variety of measures such as streamlining permitting and speeding environmental lawsuits against large projects.

Aerial images supplied by architectural photographer Hunter Kerhart show completion nearing for developer UDR, Inc.’s $107-million Koreatown tower. The 18-story development, located at 3033 Wilshire Boulevard, features 190 apartments atop 5,500 square feet of retail space and a parking garage. The project offers a mixture of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with amenities such as a fitness center, a rooftop garden, a swimming pool and a spa. According to the website of Steinberg Architects, the 201-foot tall building is defined by a series of protruding decks that give its facade a fluid experience.

Approximately $6 billion in investment is coming to Anaheim, by way of expansions to the city’s major theme parks and new commercial developments surrounding Angel Stadium. Besides the addition of the much-vaunted Star Was land at Disneyland Park, planned developments include four luxury hotels, an expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center, new homes, offices, hotels and retail destinations in the Platinum Triangle district. This past July, Anaheim granted approval to a trio of hotels in the city’s Resort District.

A new promotional video offers a flythrough tour of One Beverly Hills, a planned $1.2-billion development by the Dalian Wanda Group. The project, which is being developed in partnership with the Athens Group, would consist of two mid-rise structures between Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards, featuring 193 luxury condominiums, 134 hotel rooms and multiple restaurants. Plans also call for multiple roof terraces, meeting rooms, event space, green space and parking for 1,140 vehicles.

Local investment firm Ikon Hospitality, which specializes in hotel properties, is in the midst of construction on a new boutique inn near North Hollywood Station. The four-story development, designed by Irvine-based architecture firm nKlosures, will feature 43 guest rooms and gallery space for local artists. Guest rooms will come will be supplemented by a number of amenities, including private patios and a restort style pool. The low-rise building, located at the southeast corner of Tujunga Avenue and Weddington Street, is on pace for completion in 2017.

Over the weekend, the installation of a tower crane kicked off vertical construction for CIM Group’s Grand Hope Lofts. The 34-story building, located at 888 S. Hope Street, will feature 526 residential units above approximately 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Plans also call for an outdoor pool, a lounge, a rooftop deck and green space above an adjacent parking garage. Renderings from architecture firm CallisonRTKL portray the tower with a contemporary glass facade.